More impressive from the girls thus far. This game is going to boul down to us being able to maintain our concentration and if we are fit enough. The second part will be dicey considering the substitutions france is capable of making in the second half

After 45 mins – France 0 Nigeria 0
I’m so happy! Make I no celebrate yet though. We have to be ready for a massive 2nd half. Let’s maintain our discipline, and stay focused throughout the game. Deny them time and space on the ball. Hopefully, we shall get a result today!

The way our strikers and midfielders are losing the ball close to the box is so frustrating. Oshoala looks so relaxed to me with poor final balls. Chikwelu should keep things simple. Even when she’s overcrowded, she would still love to take her markers.

But I love their zonal marking and general defensive setup. In the last analysis, France had 69% possession but no shot on target yet. That shows how organized our girls have been at the back. But they need to offer more going forward. We should pile pressure on that French defence too. I foresee a score draw or a win for Nigeria.

Unable to watch the match, Encouraged by your live reports so far giving me hope for a first falcon victory over an Eropean side in the world cup against a team that defeated them 8 nill just last year- keep it up falcons

In 1999, En route to their best performance at the world cup, Falcons defeated Denmark(best European team during the qualifying phase) in the group stage. So a victory tonight won’t be the first against an European team

Hahahaha….bloody son of a harlot….have you ever seen anyone kill a vulture..? Nobody dares. You cant kill me…..you didnt give me life….so let your senselessness stop deceiving you. You have wished me death on several occasions…yet i’m stronger than even the days of my youth. Shameless fool….i wonder what sort of miscreants brough you to this world, and what sort of junks you are rearing as children. Shameless poverty stricken fool…you are so poor that even your reasoning is worse than that of an imbecile.
Go and kill your mother first before you even think of killing me. ode ayirada oshi….LMAO

Birds of same feather idiots who knows nothing about football. Go and check Eniola Aluko verdict. The keeper came out but the ball didn’t touch her I swear I wonder why I’m commenting on this page reasoning with low lives.I’m done with this shit people.

In a world where chimpanzees hate to be told truth they end up living lacklustre life of brainwashing.

Iberibe. Fool olodo…..Mumu……was the keeper on her lines when the kick was taken…??? Empty head…later he will come and tell us that pep guardiola is is next door neighbor. Common rules of football he doesnt know.
When you cannnot read english and understand properly….bloody waste of space. Who is the chimpanzee here if not you…..stinking pig. Why are you commenting on this page…stupid question…who forced you too….?? Idiot of your type. Animal.

Idiot….senseless fool….how has aluko’s verdict had an impact of this game now. Senseless kid. I used to think you had small sense before, but the grandfathers pet donkey was way more intelligent than you.

If you have nothing to contribute apart from your village man illiterate mentality kindly buzz of. Later you will claim you know football. Other teams that VAR has been going against in this tournament too are Africans abi. Olodo.
If the world is against you why not go and hang yourself. Bastard…!

You are a fool….a compoud fool at that. You curse me by the power of God…cant you see how stupid you are…??? LMAO
Bloody bastard son of a bastard. You have prophesied death upon me before but because you are just as stupid as your bastard father….I’m waxing stronger by the day…Bloody swine.
Poverty striken village idiot.

And your point? This particular rule is hardly followed. If rules are rules then the second penalty should have been cancelled because the French striker stepped into the 18 yard box before it was taken, and the French striker should have been given a yellow card as well.
It only becomes “rules are rules” when it favours selected teams.

Sure…I ‘vehemently’ agree with you.
The level of execution of the game plan by the girls really wowed me. We can only do ourselves the favor of building on what we displayed today. Really, this team deserves another game at this World cup.

Fulltime Nig 0-1 France.
Battling display from the Falcons. Excellent tactical discipline. They have surely earned respect. The last time I saw such display of tactical discipline from the team was at Athens Olympics in 2004. They applied it all…athleticism, grit, power and pace…even though they were never purposeful when going forward.
Lets pray we qualify as one of the 4 best 3rd placed teams….which is highly likely with the way things are going

You were quite scared of that too,but u know,I ASSURED YOU that the Super Falcons today,HAVE GPNE PAST THAT LEVEL of losing to France with loads of goals.

I believe lessons are being learnt from analysis here.
We don’t say Dennerby is terrific becos,he gives us some stipends.
Football is actually a science,if u know u know.
It’s not even about patriotism,it’s knowing standards and that’s why we said Mr Dennerby is building something.
Chikena

Look at so-called patriots….!
Pls where where you all tru the game..?
Pls where were you wen this team got drubbed 8-0 last year and almost everyone turned on the coach except for a few of us on this forum who argued that he needs lots of time..?
Pls where where you when the team wasnt finding its rhythm at the AWCON and a lot of you were raining insults on the coach, while only a few of us still stood in his defence…?
Where were you when the team was drubbed 4-0 by china in the invitational tournament, 48 hrs after taking a 26hr journey and more insults poured in on the coach, while still, a few of us lept to his defence…?
Success indeed has many fathers….now you want to cliam professor know it all.
Congratulations prof. Congrats on bagging honours in hypocrisy.
Football is actually a science,if u know u know….but when the going was still rough for the coach you were nowhere to be found. LMAO
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Pls kindly copy all my posts on the falcons and paste them here and lets all see where I ever expressed fears of a whitewash….later when we say they cant read and digest/comprehend simple English, they will flame out like an over-heated turbine. Lolz

Where I was?My various comments here clearly reveal where I was.It goes without saying.
And to my mind,our exercise here would be limp if the focus is showmanship.
Let’s employ the good old spirit of sportsmanship here. So at a time anyone can be wrong,so it’s not such a big deal if one admits same.

As u courteously requested:
“…did you say a bit of luck….? We will need all the luck in the world my brother..! My fear is not to concede to many goals so our 3 points can see us thro as a best 3rd placed team.”

The above note is unmistakenly yours sir.

I replied to this ur msg thus:
“Fear of conceding so many goals should take a back seat pls.
Currently reality is,we hope to get at least a draw.Even,if we loose we have gone past the level of conceding basket loads.
Be sure that we wud come out even more organized than d last match and with more fight.This isn’t guess work.
Mr Dennerby knows France well,he’s an European himself and a top top coach at that. He knows he has a squad dat can trouble a France,who MUST rest players.
I trust our team wud come out blazing.
Go Falcons.
Still watch my Asisat”

Well what more can I say, the ladies ofcourse played true to what I described.
It’s not about my being more patriotic than anyone,this thing is a science abeg.
Cheers

“Fear of conceding so many goals should take a back seat pls”
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So if the falcons have gone past the stage of conceding many goals, where did the 3 they conceded against Norway drop down from…? From heaven right..?
Tell me prof. patriotic scientist, that you anticipated that heavy defeat from Norway…? or is Norway not also an European country…? As a matter of fact, is Norway not even very closer to Sweden in terms of every other thing apart from football, for the coach not to know they too well, even better than France…?
my fear thus wasnt unfounded, and even the lone goal we conceeded has somewhat put us is a precarious position at the moment. 2 or 3 bad results in the remaining groups and we would be boarding a flight back home by weekend.
Success indeed has many fathers. The next thing we will hear your ilk say is that they were the ones that told the coach what to do……same coach y’all distanced yourselves from when the going was though LMAO.
Kindly go back and read every falcons news thread your search engine can give you, my comments as well as the likes of @deo’s and others who have consistently shared views and reviews on the team in the last one year. Those are the real scientists. Not some wannabes who want to flow with the wind. LMAO

You:“..and lets all see where I ever expressed fears of a whitewash…..”

At least, “all” have seen that contrary to your comment above, you actually expressed fears of a whitewash. That’s the point here. Issue of why you had those fears are secondary pls.
U know say,person wey first go court, nor be im must win d case o.

Secondly,you are looking at just goals versus Norway to judge? We look at team structure to judge.That’s why I assured you and I said I’m not guessing:
“Be sure that we wud come out even more organized than d last match and with more fight.This isn’t guess work.”

That comment shows says something about progression with every match.Remember,after d Korea match,I said :
” Once again Oshoala has been brilliant, yeap fatigue affected her game towards the end,but she is absolutely pure class.
Midfield and defence much better this time and ofcourse overall you could notice an astute tactical discipline Coach Dennerby is known for.
I always say the our Nations Cup victory wasn’t exciting in terms of flair and even dominating the ball, but I could,at least, clearly see a new found tactical cognition in the team. That’s why some of us insist that the coach is building something.”

So it’s no offence to express fears and it’s equally no offence for someone to douse your fears.

Dr Drey you said:”..and even the lone goal we conceeded has somewhat put us is a precarious position at the moment. 2 or 3 bad results in the remaining groups and we would be boarding a flight back home by weekend.”

I smile.So what if they don’t advance and come back home, does it necessarily mean they have failed?
That’s why people got so over-worked with the Norway loss,to them it’s an all-round failure. Infact yesterday,people where I live where still insulting the Falcons after the match,I listened and I didn’t hear any constructive reason for their anger. It was just blood-rush,people who judge from the point of view of ONLY the scoreline and not team tactics or spirit.
You should know me better by now Dr Drey,I view success in a more wholistic sense.
Be reminded of mine,after the Norway match:

“Oshoala brilliant as I expected, the best of them all today.
Oparanozie may have just lost her starting berth today.
Midfield was weak but the greatest challenge today was lack of confidence.

Do we still have a terrific coach? Definitely yes! He’s ONLY had one year, ONE year and few months to prepare . Playing against teams that took FOUR years or more to prepare.
So in context, they were impressive today. Let’s be measured not to be overly emotional. A loss doesn’t mean the team wasn’t impressive.
Pochetinno for example ddnt start his first season in Tottenham by winning something, but the club saw that he was gradually building something. That’s how football works anywhere.Has he really won anything till now? But during his time with Spurs,he has turned down Madrid and ManU.

So the Falcons didn’t surprise me after today’s performance,how much time was the coach given to prepare?Ofcourse and it’s not like you have the players at his continuous disposal, they are all in clubs. He’s building something and I can see that.He has since spoken of making the team younger, but you can’t do that in one yr and few months.
With what he has now, we can still qualify out of that group. We can dispatch S/korea,then go with confidence against France and try for a result. So very possible.
Yet even if it doesn’t turn out that way, I’ll be okay if I see that there is a frame work the coach has erected.
That’s how I view football.

For example I won’t grant Rohr that concession in this years Nations cup bcos he’s had more time to prepare plus he knows the African terrain so well.In any case,getting out of the group stage, won’t be so much of a challenge for d Eagles.
Go Falcons, nothing spoil.”

Once again…pls go back and read my reviews about this team. Infact read up the live views i posted all through the game when those of you who are laying claim to be the patriotic ones went into hiding only to surface with raised shoulders when the banquet was already served.
Its obvious you only pick the few lines you wish to see and neglect every other view just to massage your sentiments.
Until you have done that and thankfully assimilated them….henceforth even if you say 1+1 = 35, i wont even bat an eyelid. Because its very obvious you dont get my standpoint on this team at all.

Hehe,this your patriotic theme sef. Pls find those who are into proving patriotism,I don’t have time for that.

If you notice,I do not question you as to whether you have long known Mr.Dennerby was building something or not. That’s not the issue here sir.

I’m replying ur posts,just like I reply others. If you say there are fears,I prove why you should relax ur fears.
If u say Dennerby is over-hypped,I say he is a terrific coach and that’s not flattery.
Someone once said here b4 d WCup,that the Falcons played only club sides,and weak ones too, to prepare for WCup;I said NO,that’s not d whole story.etc.

Hahahaha…and didnt we see the end result of playing week clubsides in our first match when we got thumped…??? LMAO..!
The match which we could have used to guarantee our safety in this tournament ended up being one in which we were taught lessons and now we have to keep vigil and pray for the misfortune of others. If only we had learnt those leasson 1 or 2 frienly games before then. You dont prepare for war on the battlefield.
Dennerby has always been a terrific coach….and i’ve long known him to be one. I thankfully dont need you or anyone else to tell us that. A world cup bronze medal doesn’t come as a fluke. And that was why people like us stood by him from the onset when he was putting his team through the building process, while a host of fans kept crying for his crucifixtion. We always had faith in him
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Kel 5 months ago
‘Super’ Falcons just got trounced 3-0 by China in the first friendly today. Why is CSN not reporting it since it ended 3pm Nigerian time? Should NFF still continue to stick with Dernerby or revert now to Omagbemi or Okon?

Dernerby has simply brought down the profile and quality of the Falcons. The team was walloped 8-0 by France in the coach’s first match. In the WAFU female competition and AWCON 2018, the team practically limped and struggled to the final and was outplayed by Cameroun and SA.

The CAF Awards used to be dominated by Falcons, but this year SA stole the show, winning the Woman Player of the Year and Woman coach of the year awards. Derneby is not inspiring confidence. If Pinnick and NFF needs to do something about the team’s coaching before the Women FIFA World cup in June, now’s the time. It seems Derneby doesn’t understand the African skills set enough to know how to utilize them well.

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Dr. Drey 5 months ago
Its always very easy to call for the head of the coach @ kel. But i think we should be fair when doing that.
A team leaves nigerian summer…travels 20hrs and lands in china winter and has to play the hosts, a top global competitor, 48hrs later….bro….we are lucky it was just a 3-0 loss. Even though I personally expected a better performance going by the fact that the coach started the AWCON defence line of Oluehi, Ebi, Ohale, Ikidi and Chukwunonye and the midfield pivot of Okobi and Chikwelu…..i wasnt expecting even a draw. And when we consider the fact that the 2nd and 3rd goals were conceeded late in the game, then only one thing comes to my mind…Fatigue..!
Friendly games are test games…to test players, tactics, oppositions’ style of play and all that. Our entire attack in that game was a new set of players…chinaza uchendu, Anam Imo, Iniabasi Umotong….so for me..the friendly is serving its purpose. i remember a similar friendly match the U23s men’s team played in Australia when they just landed for the sydney olympics…I think against Korea or so……they lost 5-1 or 5-0 sef. most of the guys couldnt lift dem legs due to fatigue and jet lag.
So i believe the girls will perform better against romania on sunday. they would have fully recovered and imbibed the weather a little more.
As for sacking the coach just 5 months to the world cup….believe me it wont solve anything. let him finish what he started. Okon and Omagbemi werent so fantastic during their reigns too. It was okon that went to tell the world media that he doesnt need to study his opposition b4 a match, that he studies them while the game his on…of course we saw the results at the 2015 WC. Omagbemi’s team also struggled at the 2016 AFCON….they werent overwhelming. SA and Cameroon almost killed us in the semis and final of that competition too….after we struggled to a 1-1 draw with ghana in the group stage. We only managed to hold them all at bay….even though it was better than last year in terms of the results recorded in both matches.

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Kel 5 months ago
Thanks @ Dr.Drey for your wider perspective on the Falcons and their performance in recent times. To be honest, I didn’t watch the match and didn’t realize the last 2 goals were scored in the dying minutes. I was just furious by the scoreline as I had not really been convinced about this new coach previously. Not that I care about the skin color of a coach, just produce results and you’ll have the support of most Nigerians. Hopefully, they come to the party in tomorrow’s friendly against Romania.
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Dr. Drey 2 months ago
The disadvantage we have is that the coach is still trying out players, whereas our adversaries are already testing their teams and building cohesion ahead of the world cup. That’s usually the problem when there’s a relatively new helmsman on board. And that is why we need to imbibe that virtue of patience. This things don’t just come quick and fast. Our starting 11 keeps changing every game, meaning it will take some time before the entire team dynamics come to a convergence. I’m really looking forward to an entertaining world cup from the Falcons. This team will surely not lay down to be overran.
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Dr. Drey 2 months ago
I think its as a result of the fact that we’ve had the core of the team around for long, that’s why we seem to misconceive that idea of the team being hold. The likes of Mia Hamm, Abby Wanbach, Birgit Prinz all played into their mid 30s. Even our own legendary Florence ‘floxy’ Omagbemi, Rita nwadike, Maureen Madu (had over 100 caps for the super falcons), Marvelous mercy akide and Perpetua ‘pepe’ nkwocha played well into their 30s too. Infact Pepe holds the record for the oldest goal scorer in AWCON when she netted against Namibia in 2014 at the age of 40 or so.
I think they just need to up their fitness training regimes. At the AWCON, we barely managed to hang on till the end of 120 minutes against Cameroon and SA. If they can add a whole lot more of fitness, stamina and physicality to the technical side of what dennerby is inputting into the team now….I can assure we will hit the 6 points mark in the group stage
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Dr. Drey 5 months ago
“It was the first time in two decades that the nine time African Champions would record a win against an European team.”
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CSN….please double check on that line.
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Nigeria beat the three lionesses of England 3-0 sometime in 2004 or so. 2 goals from Perpetua ‘Pepe’ Nkwocha and Stella ‘mgbidi express’ Mbachu (i think) gave the Ismaila Mabo (or was it sam okpodu sef…?) tutored girls the lead in that friendly encounter.
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Anyways, just as I predicted in my last post when the falcons lost to china….they came in good today against romania…and i’m glad to see the strike partnership experiment of the trio of Ihezuo, Uchendu and Umotong eventually paid dividends. For me, 48hrs wasnt enough to recover from a 20hr trans-continental flight from a tropical climate to a frigid one like what is being experienced in china now. Even though i wasn’t expecting a win against the chinese, the fact that the last 2 of their 3 goals in that game were conceded towards the end indicated nothing else but fatigue on the part of our girls.
For the rable-rousers who want to water down this victory with ‘FIFA Rankings’ They should also consult the same rankings to see if their bashing of the team is justified.
Even when they have free internet, they aren’t sensible enough to go to FIFA website and see that Romania is currently ranked 41st in the world just 2 places behind Nigeria (ranked 39th) where as France and china are ranked 3rd and 15th respectfully. If you want to water down this victory, it will also be fair to disregard the loses to france and china too.
Later dem go say na only dem sabi football….common internet dem nor sabi use……LMAO…!!!
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Meanwhile, a pat on the back to the girls. we look forward to futher improvements as you play together more, gel more, understand the coach more and try out more strategies. The friendlies are sure serving their purpose.
Up next…Cyprus Cup…!

Dr. Drey 6 months ago
Oh….what a heart warming piece of news. For once I wish to say kudos to the FA. 2 invitational tournaments and a few more friendlies should be enough to earn at least 4 points at the mundial. we already have a standing team, most of whom are professionals in europe…all they need now is the time with the coach to instill his philosophy into them. The ball is now in Coach Dennerby’s Court.

There was no adverse effect of playing two weak club sides AT THE TAIL END of prep program. Brazil played Qatar and Honduras at the tail end of prep for the ongoing Copa America.
It all depends on what a team needs.
Preparation was markedly impressive overall.It was a paradigm shift.
Zebrudaya say:”Fire a burn father and you are ask if the fire a burn e bear-bear.” The cub friendlies are not an issue at all,the short time of planning and prep are the main culprits.That is the REAL ISSUE.Infact by proper standards we failed in preparation time-wise,yet we endeavoured to maximized the so little time left.

Again,if you are proponent of “the team is building”,like me,you don’t blame those two matches at the tail end of a short prep. The coach knew dat,dat wasn’t d time to play high profile matches(cos it won’t change anything),but a time to master their craft,build synergy , thus they had those club friendlies.

You don’t cry over spilt milk– the mistake had already been done before he was employed.
With the prep we had for this competition,we can do something better(NFF willing)and the coach will now have a proper time to prep for the next one.

I beg to disagree with you….Brazil played National teams….one of them, the current champions of another continent. Not 2 clubsides in panama or Puerto Rico. The adverse effect of playing those weak teams was that we were never given the kind of test a former world champion like Norway gave us. We were not prepared for Norway and were in shambles in that game and were lucky not to even lose by a wider margin. You cant be preparing to take part in a global mathematics Olympiad with solving tens and units arithmetics. The Norway game gave us a test of what we were to face in this World cup and you can see how we have regrouped from thence on. If only he had played 2 Norways 2 friendly matches before facing Norway, we definitely would have given the kind of disciplined performance we have seen in the last 2 games after that baptism of fire from Norway.

Dr. Drey 6 months ago
Now this is brilliant news if you ask me. Austria and Belgium is no better than us in female football. We only just havent been doin enough in terms of raking up matched…thats why we remain stuck at 30something in the world for years now. This tournament will be a good avenue for the coach to spend more time with his team and instill his philosophy in them better. I wish the Sf would go all the way. The longer they remain in the tournament the better for them
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Dr. Drey 7 months ago
You are very correct sir.
The FA has not show commitment to the SF over the last decade despite them always delivering on the continent. The fact that they always manage to grind out success after success out of shear superiority in talent and determination in spite of this lack of seriousness and non committal of resources to the development of this team. Unfortunately, sheer talent and determination doesnt cut it at the world stage where they meet team with equal of superior talent but with more organization and preparedness. Aspiring to make a statement on the world stage is one thing….hiring a foreign coach is another….while getting the team well prepared at all times is the most important. If SA cpuld play as much as 8 international friendlies this year alone….I dont see why we shouldn’t play at least 5. The coach can only do his bit with the time he has with the squad…he cant work any magic outside that.

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Aleks 7 months ago
Totally agreed. Though I still believe they were a bit too relaxed against South Africa. If they’d play with the same level of determination that they showed against Zambia, there’s no way they wouldn’t have beaten South Africa.
A bit of correction though – the oldest player in the team is 35 (Onome Ebi). I also read a report that listed Faith Ikidi as the oldest player in the team at 31, I guess that was a mistake.

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Dr. Drey 7 months ago
Yea very correct…its that usual attitude with Nigerian teams….We always need a dirty slap in d backside before we realize a tournament has begun. Its common with all our teams…from U17 to the senior teams

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Bomboy 7 months ago
The Falcons have been stirred. Played like real Nigerian babes….

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Dr. Drey 7 months ago
That defeat against SA was surely a wake up call. I still back the SF to go all the way in Ghana. Up next Equatorial Guinea
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Bomboy 7 months ago
I am still banging my head to find an excuse to defend the NFF for hiring an ‘oyibo’ man but can’t find any.
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This is the worst coach the Super Falcons have ever had. Why spend so much money to import a coach that is worse than the ones we have at home?

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Dr. Drey 7 months ago
The one we had were based here at home and knew all our players. even the ones playing abroad had passed through them while playing at home. Most of our coaches have either come fro Pelican stars of Calabar, Rivers angels of port-harcout or Delta Queens of Asaba….these 3 teams too are where most national players have or are still playing. I can bet this coach doesnt even know ALL his players by their full names yet. And with the near zero preparation arrangement made for this team, there’s little a new coach can do for just a few weeks…and thats why it almost seems like almost the same players that have played the last 2 afcons are still the ones we took to this very afcon….From the goalie to the strikers. in the short term….the coach is definitely gonna find it dificult….but in the long term he might come good. But for a team which played competitively for the first time since 2 years ago when they won the last tournament…. we need might look a little further beyond the coach for whom to hang

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Dr. Drey 7 months ago
At times like these it is all so easy to blame the coach for the loss. But to only whom much is given should much be expected. Over the past 8-10 years…its always been topsy turvy for the super falcons when facing the likes of SA, Ghana or Cameroun…I can remember when last we beat any of these 3 by 2 goals or more. But the girls always somehow manage to grind out results, either by sheer grit or superior talent. We only started preparing for this tournament 5 weeks ago and played zero international friendlies, SA has been preparing the whole year and has been in and out of camp…playing 8 international friendlies in the process. For a team we have only been managing to beat to have had this much preparations as compared to ours in which 3 out of the 5 weeks of camping was to weed out a large chunk of 30 players, leaving just 2 weeks for focused camping….then such a defeat shouldn’t be a suprise.
Again we also cannot discountenance the attitude and output of the players too…clearly our approach going into that game was that of “this is another piece of cake for us’. Looking at how Oparanozie blasted that 38th minute open goal opportunity over the bar…it smirks off non-chalance and laxity. A goal up at that point in the game would have made the SAs come out to play in the second half and open more opportunities for us in their backline…rather than the ultra defensive approach they adopted more almost the whole game. In games like these…one moment of laxity and you will be picking the ball from your net….and that was exactly what happened.
That been said..this is just the begining of the tournament. Nigerian teams have this character of growing into a tournament and thus I back the SF to bounce back strongly. This kinds of defeats are blessing in disguise and are needed once in a while to jolt us awake. I could remember when we suffered our first ever loss in female football on the African continent way back in 2002 at the asaba township stadium…it was unbelievable….it was like our invincibility was never gonna be broken..but the truth is that one day is always one day when monkey go go market and e nor go return. That defeat jolted the team back awake and they went on to thump SA 6-0 in the next game which was the semi-finals with Olaitan yussuf scoring a hat-trick.
So our team should shed this garment of invincibility and start taking every game as seriously as they will take playing USA, JAPAN or FRANCE. The rest of africa are not ready to lie low and be steam rolled anymore.
Also, The NFF should up their game when it comes to female football. They dont give these girls too much…so they shouldnt expect too much. After winning the AWCON in 2016 it took almost another 1 and half years to bring them to back to camp for one hurriedly arranged friendly with France…and that was after the girls had gone out to be media to cry out about their long term inactivity and how it may be dangerous as the 2018 is also gonna be a world cup qualifier. One would argue that they played the WAFU tourney…but a large chuck of the girls in that team are not here at the AWCON.
Just as our defeat to SA in uyo became a blessing in disguise in the end….i believe also this defeat too will be a blessing in disguise. I still remian faithful to the ability of the SF to go all the way in this tournament…but the lessons remain that WE ARE NO LONGER INVINCIBLE….!!!

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Bomboy 7 months ago
Good one, Dr. Frey. You are so on point.

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Bomboy 7 months ago
Dr. Drey

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Ashy Slashy 7 months ago
Absolutely the coach should bear a large chunk of the blame.
Many would argue that with tapes, DVDs online clips and other materials available to him as an international coach of presumed high standards he should by now would have pick a competent squad capable of getting a positive result against South Africa on Sunday.
Okay preparations were scant going into this tournament but was he not the same coach who took the same girls to a friendly against France in April this year that they lost 8:0?
What has he learnt from that friendly match? From the evidence of the formation, tactics and team selection against South Africa, he does not appear to have learnt a lot.
Also, he was around when the local girls came 3rd in Wafu recently. Again what has he taken away from this?
Please don’t get me wrong, it is still early days for this coach but he needs to turn things around and he needs to do this quick otherwise there would have been no justification for hiring him in the first place.
And, why can’t we continue to be invincible????? Is it not to continue that invincibility that the NFF hired a coach with pedigree of managing a team like Sweden?
Yes, the days of flogging other female teams 10:0 may be a thing of the past but to give up our place as the leader, pacesetter and Queens of Africa female football will be a crime of epic magnitude.
We are the greatest African female football team of all time so with proper management and harnessing of our talents at home and abroad, WE CAN CONTINUE OUR INVINCIBILITY FOR MANY SEASONS TO COME.

REPLY
Dr. Drey 7 months ago
Hahahahaha……so coaches now pick teams for tournaments by just watching “… tapes, DVDs online clips and other materials available …”. I really look forward to the day when coaching will become that simple….maybe i too would just simply dust off my certificates an dive into the coaching business head on. Dennerby wasnt at WAFU cup as coach…he was just there as spectator having just been appointed days earlier. He sat in the stands with NFF officials all through the tourney. A large chunk of the WAFU team aint in AFCON at the moment. Between CMR vs NGR november 2016 and NGR vs SA 2018….the falcons played just three games…the 2 AWCON qualifiers against gambia in june 2017 and the hurriedly arranged friendly against france in april 2018. That averaging one game per year. A one match per year team from africa is hurriedly assembled to face a continuously active super power like france and unsurprisingly got thumpped….pls what lessons did you expect the coach to learn. April to November is 7 good months…no camping…no friendlies. We entered camp 5 weeks ago…used 3 weeks to screen players and the remaining 2 weeks to blend them with the foreign pros…and you expect INVINCIBILITY against another team that had been camping since January this year, played 8 international friendlies and the COSAFA cup…bcos the Dennerby will just split the skulls of 23 players open and stuff them with tactics. Naaaaaa…..its not gonna be fair on those who have been spending their own resources to organize and fly their team around the world for friendlies and closed camping.
Your closing lines read…..”with proper management and harnessing of our talents at home and abroad, WE CAN CONTINUE OUR INVINCIBILITY FOR MANY SEASONS TO COME…..”
pls read it again and carefully underline the words MANAGEMENT & HARNESSING.
The FA is in charge of MANAGEMENT…not the coach….and the coach can only HARNESS, when the FA organizes camps and friendlies for the team.
Barcelona under Guardiola was the greatest football team of all time….Brazil (1970), France (1998), Spain (2010) were the greatest national soccer teams. We also had our own era on invincibility from 1991 – 2002 and it is long gone. We have lost, reclaimed, lost and reclaimed ” our place as the leader, pacesetter and Queens of Africa female football” over and again and hence theres nothing criminal about it….the only crime we would be commiting against orsevles is to keep deluding ourselves that poor management of our female football and fire brigade approach will continue to keep us in our leadership postion

So Frekkie @ Oge, since you seem lazy to dig into the archives (or maybe you did and got overwhelmed but didnt want you undermine your warped position), i’ve done half the job for you. The sudden belief you just started cultivating now has been standing tall like the northern baobab for a pretty long time. What you seem to be seeing just now, we have been in constant touch with and didnt even make noise about..! LOLZ

Thanks for your endeavor @Dr Drey.
Like I said,I never questioned whether you said these or not.
And like I said my comments reveal a certain history.If you can’t see it,no p after all “I nor dey under pressure to carry first.”

I have replied above,but I see you added more.
Yet that reply indeed still encompasses everything.I have copied,I paste:

“There was no adverse effect of playing two weak club sides AT THE TAIL END of prep program. Brazil played Qatar and Honduras at the tail end of prep for the ongoing Copa America.
It all depends on what a team needs.
Preparation was markedly impressive overall.It was a paradigm shift.
Zebrudaya say:”Fire a burn father and you are ask if the fire a burn e bear-bear.” The cub friendlies are not an issue at all,the short time of planning and prep are the main culprits.That is the REAL ISSUE.Infact by proper standards we failed in preparation time-wise,yet we endeavoured to maximized the so little time left.

Again,if you are proponent of “the team is building”,like me,you don’t blame those two matches at the tail end of a short prep. The coach knew dat,dat wasn’t d time to play high profile matches(cos it won’t change anything),but a time to master their craft,build synergy , thus they had those club friendlies.

You don’t cry over spilt milk– the mistake had already been done before he was employed.
With the prep we had for this competition,we can do something better(NFF willing)and the coach will now have a proper time to prep for the next one.”

On ur Brazil reply.
Leave matter of champions…
Are the teams weak? Obviously they are very weak when compared to Brazil and compared to the physically brutal nature of the SothAmercan competition.

But that’s Brazil,another country may choose a different route, that’s them.

Like I said the major issue is not those two last matches.
If they haven’t learnt conditioning for the WCup,it’s not playing two country sides at d tail end of preparation dat wud teach them that,that will make them beat Norway.

I thought you said we are building something, oya be true to what you are preaching na. What is this your fixation with the Norway match?

The coach knows he didn’t have proper time to prepare so it’s not about packing the schedule with friendlies with tough countries alone.The players have to be fresh too,master the systems,build synergy.
Time will come when he has four years to prepare,then he can play illustrious friendly matches pls.

First and foremost, my fixation with the Norway match is hinged upon the fact that, we ‘MAY’ have to look back to that match and tell ourselves, ‘this was when we blew our chance of equaling out 20 year old record’. If only we had gotten our engines revving by the time we line up for that game, we most probably would be home and dry by now. If we could pack our schedule by playing unknown entities, we could also have sneaked in 1 really testing game rather than waste 180 mins on easy pies. We might not necessarily play the top 5 on the fifa ranking…but a team like Sweden, or Scotland or even Italy could have put us in better shape than playing a clubside from slovakia, whereas we had even defeated the slovak national team previously. Playing a national team (even if not one far ahead on the rankings log) is always a bigger test than playing a clubside. My permutations for this world cup was 4 points, and we realistically could have achieved that. Notwithstanding, I agree with you that the coach needs more time on the saddle, much as i have stated long before now. The olympic games is in another 12 months time, and I hope the FA will start setting machinery in motion as regards getting set for that….but i doubt it will happen like that given the fact that the National Sports Commission is responsible for our olympic teams. Imama Amakpakabo is currently having sleepless nights working with them already. We need to sustain this current tactical and technical revolution currently being drilled into the team if we are ever going to match the feats of 1999…hell we could even put 2 past denmark, 2 past korea and 3 goals past Brazil without having to defend all game.
Healthy discourse so far…!

Yeap I know you didn’t mean it must be a top 5 side,for the friendly.
So it means I still stand by all I have said on the last 2 friendlies-for me it was perfect for our context.Norway loss no big issue,if we say the team is building,we shud be true to our proclamation and go through the birth pains of the current revolution taking place.
Yes, I see that we are not on thesame page with regards what I just said above, well that’s your word against mine. It’s allowed.

At least we agree on the coach needing more time, meaning we agree that the coach didn’t have the proper time to prepare for this tournament, AT ALL.

However,we look at the bright side of things,in the very limited time the coach had,the NFF uncharacteristically made something beautiful out of it. Kudos to them,as we urge them to do even more, ON PURPOSE,from now on.
The Olympics up coming and I hope the pertinent issues you raised by sorted out somehow.
Yeah healthy talk is always better. I could have tailed off and amongst other things, vehemently attempted to prove how patriotic I am,as you kept challenging on patriotism,but those are the kind of things that results in bad-blood and insults back and forth.
I tried to face the real issues and not be swayed by things like that.
God bless us.

Super Falcons, I troway salute. I hope this courageous performance is enough to see us to the next round. If we can manage that, the tournament would be a success in my view. Hopefully, the girls can build on this performance in future games. Once again, I say WELL DONE LADIES!

I really don’t get that penalty retake. What a stupid rule! What if the desperate French team had scored the penalty the first time, would it have been retaken!?? It was really painful and devastating, especially to our young goalkeeper.

To be honest, I think some of this refs are harder on African teams and softer on European teams. Norway and France don’t have many calls against them and so they’re allowed to play their game without disruption. Most infringements are overlooked and they rarely get a yellow. Just my honest observation/sentiments reading between the lines.

Nigeria has 3 points with -2 GD. Our hopes lie in Group D & F. Camerouun & New Zealand are both on 0 points with -3 GD. If they play a draw, good for Nigeria. Also in Group F, Chile and Thailand are both on 0 points too, Chile -5 GD and Thailand -17 GD. As long as Chile don’t beat Thailand more than 2-0, Nigeria should go through as one of the best 4 third placed teams. It’s kinda rough sha. Pheeew!

“I really don’t get that penalty retake. What a stupid rule! What if the desperate French team had scored the penalty the first time, would it have been retaken!?? It was really painful and devastating, especially to our young goalkeeper.”
Yes…absolutely. In this tournament and even in the just concluded U20 tournament….penalties are retaken and the keeper given a yellow card if he/she steps off the line before the kick is taken..whether it is scored or not.

I know how hard it feels to lose, especially when our girls played well, more in terms of conserving and managing the game. They also did their job well by defending. But we must not forget how this same rule that has come to harm Nigeria also helped us when Tijani was given an opportunity to play his penalty two time!. at the under 20 world cup in Poland. In this match, France also got a yellow card. Ebere’s red card was a second yellow and of course, a red card!. We should start teaching our players the new rules of the game and I cannot overstate the importance of our players knowing that there is camera everywhere and reckless plays will be promptly reviewed. Gone are the days of 10:10 (Bright Omokaro’s tackle in the nations cup or reckless tackles by Italian players that put an abrupt end to the career of Marco van Bastern when he was still playing for AC Milan). It is unfortunate that we lost but I think the game was balanced today and the referee was fair!

We lost today because of two mistakes the coach made. First, deciding to go for all the players that played the Norway match. Second not making the necessary change, especially in the midfield, when the French coach brought in their 2 star players in the second half. One would think that “you change your strategy relative to what your opponent is doing.” But our coach did not, and was satisfied with what he was getting from his players (he ought to know better that by playing an ultra conservative game, some of his players will get tired and there will be a need for fresh legs).
Obviously Okobi was tired and Ayila never did much to help the attack. Chikwelu was surprisingly the best player in the midfield today and arguably for NIgeria. So, there was no need taking her out. The coach should have brought in an extra midfielder by taking out one of Ordega, Oshoala, or Oparanozie early on in the second half. He should also have gone for a younger midfielders instead of using all three veteran midfielders in the team that played the Norway match (it is obvious that the coach has more faith in the older players).
I have already said that there is camera everywhere and any reckless play will be promptly reviewed. All the calls against Nigeria (the two penalties, and the actual penalty that was conceded) were correct. So, we shouldn’t blame anybody. We may argue against the red card but when you obstruct an obvious goal bound move (whether advertently or inadvertently), you put yourself in jeopardy of getting a card. That was what happened to Ebere and we can’t blame anybody for that.
I am still maintaining that the coach needs to put more faith in the younger players in his team (maybe if Micheal was not injured we wouldn’t have known how good Okeke is because the coach would probably not have used her at all). That is the way forward for him. But if he continues with the way he is doing, then, we should always expect nothing more than what we saw today. This is female football and you need both strength and youthfulness to get good result.
On a more curious note, how could we have scored against France if we never really made a purposeful attack play? Just thinking out loud.

For the man asking why the coach did not make any substitute,making substitute at that particular time will affect the tactics of that game except for Oshoala who was like limping but you know, she is d only player that can make the difference for us i guess that was the reason the coach has to wait to buy time with her. But in all honesty the girls and the coaching crew did their best just that the French women’s are more superior which we all know

Tayo, I couldn’t agree with you more. Top marks for your observations.

Yes, making substitutions early is good however, depending on the strategy you adopt, you might choose not to make substitutions until very late.

It was obvious to the naked eye that this coach was playing for a draw (which would have been more than sufficient to see us through).

Hence, bringing in an overzealous substitute could actually be counterproductive. It could affect the shape of the team; in fact, an overzealous substitute has more tendency to cause a foul than a player already in the pitch.

I remember 1996 against Brazil in the Olympics : no sooner had Orunma come in as sub did he commit a foul. In one if the World Cup qualifiers (against Zambia), Mikel Agu was in the pitch for a matter of minutes as a sub before bagging a yellow card.

With the way this match was going, I was actually praying for the ladies on the pitch to maintain their concentration for 90 minutes and they were well in their way to doing so but for the unfortunate sequence of events that started with the VAR aided penalty award.

Rita Chikwelu was rugged but she gave away possession a couple of times in dangerous areas. Are attacking-inspiring passes were also off. But overall, I will award her 7/10 for hard work and endeavour.

We needed not win today’s match so I wasn’t overly concerned about the limited goal scoring opportunities.

It just goes to show that the coach played for a draw but the team didn’t have the rub of the Green on the night.

My advice for those who live in abroad is this. Oversea is not designed for black people. It is time to come back home and invest.

If truly you are a human being who can think very deeply, don’t think that this is just a game. It’s real. What just happened in this match was a reality scene. White people will never loved black people.

France did it against Norway but it wasn’t worst like this. If you failed to have a rethink about what I just said, I am so sorry for you. The whole world have seen it now that black people are nothing in front of white people.

However, I am satisfied. I am pleased. I really enjoyed myself. This is indeed a football match that I am going to remembered for the rest of my life. The lessons learned in this match in particular.

My special thanks goes to God almighty.
Also, my lovely coach Dennerby and the entire crew of the team.

This match made my day. The reactions of the sports journalists on TV shows that Nigeria were robbed. FIFA, thank you o. CAF, sit down there dey watch.

Omo9ja, please don’t bring that one come. Na now wey Naija lose na em you go know say abroad is not made for Black people. Wetin you for talk? Shey becos dis one na super falcons dat na why you dey talk like dat.
Why has “abroad is not made for Black people” not stopped us from winning many under 17 world cup. Please we have to be very objective when we analyze a match. Did you not see all the replays, and can you question them? Were those call wrong from the replays you watched? The girls tried and we should congratulate them.
Abroad is not made for Black people, but do you know the countless number of Black men making a genuine living abroad. Why has abroad not eaten them up. If abroad is not made for Black people, then, we the Black people should make our own continent work. 90% of our girls play abroad and you say abroad is not made for Black people.
Why can’t the NFF make the women’s league work in Nigeria? But they will rely on players that your much maligned abroad has polished to use to prosecute matches. Even your much loved coach Dennerby is an abroad man!
Abeg make you find another thing talk ojare.

“I’m always happy reading coach Dennerby comments. If you know what you are doing, you don’t have to be stressing yourself too much to build a sound and solid team.

I haven’t seen what I have been looking for in the Super Eagles team. Hopefully, I will see that in the Super Falcons team.

It is very simple to analyzed what is it do you have to build your team on as a coach?

Prayer: God comes first and these follows.

The level of the Country in football.
As a good coach, you have to dig deeper to see how much the Country that hires you loves football and reaches in continental championship and in globally. Point no1.

Coach Dennerby scored 80/100 here. Good job coach.

Further more, as a good, intelligent and smart coach, you also have to see if the Country have good players in the Country and outside the Country.

Coach Dennerby also scored 80/100 here. Kudos to you coach.

Now, to build a team will be very much easier.

What to look for: as a good coach, I what the best for my goalkeeping department. The best of the best goalkeepers have to be selected
both home and abroad.

However, the defense have to be solid too because I want a realiable and dependable back and there’s no room for shaky defense.

Onto the middle. This is where the coach have to put a lot in. As a smart coach, you have to find different players who can play in different positions with different style of play. Most especially, set pieces.

Every player have to know the role to be played in 5he team. For example, those who really good at freekick have to be talking the freekicks.

And those who are good at corner kicks have to do their job.

Almost done. How do you want your forwards to be playing depends on the style of play you wants for your team.

When all these steps are in place, what next?

How long the team have to be jelled that you can call it a solid team? Well, not quite long. A year and half should be okay to build a solid team if you really good at what you are doing as a coach. So therefore, Coach Dennerby scored 100% here too.

Build confidence in your team.
Build a never say die spirit in the team. And never looked down yourselves that your opponents are better than you. This coach scored 100%

Prayer, luck and welfare of the team also plays a lot in the team or in anything we do. This team has it all. All I can say now is I wish the Super Falcons a very good outing in France.

I am happy seeing so many people all over the world supporting Nigeria over France. My people, please go on YouTube and read their comments below Nigeria vs France video match.

Ah….My people, Nigerians are the problem of Nigeria. Many of us believed that France won on merit while outsiders are fighting for us. Too bad. Even, French people were not happy that the match won that way.

Even with that penalty, the referee went for 7 minutes extra time and later she changed it to 8 minutes. I have never seen this in my life. What shame. God bless Nigeria!!!

Omo9ja, there is no point responding to you on CSN. It is very obvious that you know little about football. You just write to satisfy sentimental desires. You know what? Nigerians are not the problem of Nigeria, but people like you who will see White and call it Black or vis versa.

hahahahaha Josh…abeg leave am…he obviously doesnt know the rules of football…these are the same ones that will claim they know better than national team coaches. Between when the penalty was awarded and play restarted after the 2nd penalty was scored, 7 minutes was wasted. after that, we have about 4 subs from both teams and 2 injuries. Normally each sub is awarded 30 seconds each….so let him do the mathematics himself.
The VAR was absolutely correct in awarding a penalty, likewise the retake since the keeper stepped-off her line before the first was taken and duly got a yellow for that. These are all new rules introduced to football by FIFA, but they wont update themselves…rather they blame the white man for their failure since they have always done since the days of colonialism.
Later they will call themselves scientists LMAO.

Former Super Eagles Captain, Sunday Oliseh has heaped praises on the Super Falcons for their good performance in the last Group A game against France on Monday.

The multiple African Champions gave a complete performance against the French , but lost to a controversial penalty awarded to the hosts by the referee in the 79th minutes.

French penalty taker Wendy Renard had missed the initial penalty, before the referee called for a retake , after Falcons goalkeeper Nnadozie was adjudged to have come off her line, a decision Oliseh doubted .

“Extremely proud of our Super Falcons of Nigeria vs France at the World Cup. These girls gave it everything against a French side cheered on by a near full stadium & a doubtful retaken penalty. I am sad,disappointed, but proud of these girls.”

The Falcons will have to wait to know if they will progress to the next round, as one of the tournament’s best losers, while the hosts matched on to the round of 16 with nine maximum points.

Thomas Dennerby has labelled the Super Falcons players as heroines following their disciplined performance in a 1-0 loss to France in their last group game of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

The Swede felt badly done by because of the decision of Honduran referee Melissa Borjas, the fact that the penalty was retaken before it was scored by Wendie Renard.

The Africa champions were looking for a point to finish among the four best third-placed teams and put in a defensive masterclass to deny the French a goal until the 79th minute when they scored in controversial circumstances.

”It is better I don’t say anything on the penalty decision. My players are heroes, ” said Dennerby at the post-match press conference.

”Of course I am disappointed with the result. France is a really good team, they don’t need support from anybody to win games.

”I think we saw it because the girls were fighting so well and they followed the match plan and it’s getting destroyed by people and we are not happy with.”

In the provisional rankings of third-placed teams from the six groups, Nigeria are third and will wait for the outcome of the games in Group C, D, E and F to confirm their place in the last sixteen.

IT HURTS! But please stop the race, conspiracy, victimization card. It’s tiring, illiterate and unhelpful. The law is the law. One’s ignorance or love for it not withstanding.
It’s not the first time. Senegal an AFRICAN country benefited against South Korea at the just concluded FIFA U20 World Cup.